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About 10 years ago my husband heard God tell him in a dream, "I have always been with you, I am with you now and will be with you the next 27 years of your life." My husband at the time was in his early twenties and had been taking care of his sick father for 6 years. He was going through a very rough time when he had this dream, and it gave him comfort. He says it really seemed like it was God speaking to him. This is upsetting to me because if it is true it means he will die in 16 years, and we will not grow old together. We are both Catholic, met while studying theology in a seminary, and now are lay ministers in a Catholic church. We are rational people and aren't prone to hearing voices. Is there a priest or minister that has any experience or insights into these matters? I would appreciate your opinion on whether or not you believe this was God speaking. Thank you.
It could have been the voice of God bringing a message of comfort with something prophetic not yet understood. He says "Call on Me in time of trouble and I will answer". Since His Word is immutable, why not an answer in an audible voice or in dreams? It is historically biblical.
His other word to us is that "I will never leave you nor forsake you". That is a pretty powerful statement to argue that there is more to wait to be uncovered, rather than thinking of it as a limiting of life or abandonment by God,
He has also told us "Let not your heart be troubled, for all things are under My hand". God presents us with times of testing and enigmatic statments that are prophetic. In the flesh, these things can be fearsome, but in the spirit, they can bring comfort. God tests us of our faith so that we know if we are fully exercising it. When we are fearful, we live to the flesh, so our choice as children of The Most High, a heavenly father Who has all things in control, it to live in faith or live in fear. His "don't sweat it" message occurs too often in the scriptures to be dismissed as a minor point.
Because God sees the end from the beginning, maybe He gave this word to your husband to test YOUR reliance on Him. He ministers through His church (us) and has planted seeds today that we haven't seen but will bless us in days to come.
What if this is an eschatological message? Can you trust Him to care for you and your family and all those you love? Is He just and merciful as He says?
As an anecdote, I have a friend that was a gangster during the depression. Many years ago he called out to God and God answered. Audibly! He would ask God questions and God would talk to him and answer as if He were walking next to Him. He basically learned about the cross and God's plan through the Voice. One day God told him to buy a bible. He did as he had learned to be obedient and to depend on God to guide his footsteps. All of a sudden, he quit hearing the Voice. He cried out with tears and anguish, asking God why He had left him and forsaken him. God's last audible words to him were "You have my Word, now I want you to walk by Faith".
Faith is an awesome gift from God and poorly understood by theologians and lay people. We continually call on God to give us even the mustard seed. And He does. For the spiritual birthing of a man is an awesome thing, beyond the realm of intellect, emotion, or the flesh. To believe Him and TRUST Him , to recieve His Word in spirit, even in the least measure, is the sovereign work of His mighty hand.
The ending of our time here is of no consequence when we pass because we we pass from faith to Light and all things become known. The surviving loved ones are committed to the care of a God who loves them beyond measure. He says "My thoughts are toward you constantly". What awesome assurance. awesome love. In this there should be no fear for Perfect Love casts out all fear. Your answer to the cares of your heart are lying at the feet of Him. ;D ;D ;D
Whoever you are, thank you for an enormously comforting answer. Everything you said is true. I have printed it out and will save it. God bless you. LMS
Hi.. my personal feeling is that if it was in a dream, it could mean anything, and most likely does not mean that your husband had only 27 years to go. Even if someone "hears God" in waking life, one should still be very skeptical. Why? Because I believe there are many "lesser gods" and spiritual forces out there trying to deceive. Almost all of the great Christian (and non-Christian) saints say this in their writings. It's too bad more people aren't aware of this. Most are all caught up in the material view, and some people tend to overly trust any spiritual "voice" when they perceive it.
Thanks for your thoughts on my question. You are right about "voices" not always being benign. I think St John of the Cross and St. Teresa said the same thing - to be skeptical. But the reason the voice seemed to be from God in this case is that my husband said that after he woke up, he felt comforted and more at peace. It seems that one knows by the fruits an experience produces whether or not it is from God, and the "fruits" of this dream were positive. Does that make sense?
Yeah, it does make sense, because if it really was God communicating to the creature, there would be a certain resonance of truth between Creator and creature. You'd "know" it's the real thing, just as an embryo must know the comfort of the mother's environment.
I guess my skeptical mind comes in when several different people say that God speaks to them, but when the utterances are compared, God seems to say very different things.
Likewise, you've probably heard people say "the Holy Spirit" came over me... and yet I often wonder if it's the Holy Spirit, or some kind of lesser influence they're feeling.
But I doubt this is the case with your husband. Sometimes God does speak to people a bit more directly. It's not weird at all. There's a certain percentage of the population that gets this. And of course, not everyone is willing to report it (so it probably happens to more people than we realize). What I would question, however, is the literal interpretation of the 27 years. Remember how in the Bible, Jesus' words often have a much larger meaning than the literal one.
Maybe, for instance, it was a certain angel, working for God, who has been assigned to your husband for 27 years? Maybe he'll get a new angel when that time runs over?
That's an interesting theory!! I guess it's possible. My husband thinks that possibly he did not receive the message being given to him 100% accurately, and that it's within the realm of possibility his own mind inserted the part about the 27 years. I guess we have no way of knowing for sure; only time will tell. But I'm going to try not to worry about it. If God did say that and my husband is going to die when he's 50, there isn't a thing I can do about it. And if that part wasn't from God and he's going to live longer or a shorter amount of time, I don't want to ruin the time we have worrying about it. I don't know of any other way to deal with this.
I know what you mean about people saying the Holy Spirit came over them. I used to work in a church and led bible study groups and people said that all the time!
Thanks for your insights and your help; it's always good to hear another point of view!
I think that's a very wise view of your husband. And if we really believe in what Christ teaches, the idea of death should be both sorrowful (because we say goodbye for a while) but also joyful (because a good person goes to a better place).
Once we're alive, we're alive forever and ever. This is something our culture tends to forget. Even Catholic culture (I'm a Catholic too..)
This may have been a confort for your husband. However, it was not God speaking to him. Please read Heb.1:1-2. God does speak to us but only thru Jesus. Now dreams can be used. However, if it was a dream of the Holy Spirit your husband would also know the meaning. God is not the author of confusion, nor does God give any promise to anyone of another day. Jesus could split the eastern sky any time the Father sends Him for the church. There is no fore-telling of future that is not recorded in Gods word.
My Dear, You Ignore The Obvious. God Did Not Say He Would Abandon Your Husband In 20+ Years. My Understanding Of What You Wrote Is God Said He Would Be With Him For 27 Years. The Question Is, "for What Purpose?" At The End Of That Timeframe God May Very Well Lift Your Husband To An Entirely New And Different Level Of Faith. We Are Taught To Think In Negatives And It's Very Hard To Break That Pattern. Take For Instance A Simple Weather Report. The Reporter Says, "partly Cloudy", Not "mostly Sunny." Our God Is A God Of Positives So Please Start To Train Yourself To Think That Way Also..........................stony
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